Falcon 030 Power 2/F030_POWER2.iso/ST_STE/MAGS/MAGGIEBO.ARJ/best1_11/DATA/CES_SHOW.DOC/CES_SHOW.DOC

Text File | 1995-12-03 | 7KB | 153 lines

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TheC.E.S.Show,Theshowthatneverwas...

ACIHinsidereport....

CastyourmindtotraditionalSeptemberpursuits,theendof
Summer,thehordesofglistening'BackToSchool'displays,in
justabouteveryshopintheland(WiththeChristmasdecorations
waitingfortheirturnshortlyafter,nodoubt..)Andthereis
alwaysthe'Big'Computershowoftheyear,intheUK,September
isALLABOUThugequeuesatEarlsCourt,Goddammit!!

Butnotthistime,the'Mega-Event'Show,forreasonsstillbeing
soughtafter,ratherabruptlybecametradeonly,towardtheendof
August,therewasNOWAYinforJoePublic(Thiswasnotagreat
loss,asIwillexplain..)

Buthavingobtainedacomplimentaryticket,andsuitablyarmed
with(Someoneelses)businesscards,itwasofftoLondontovisit
theEx-GreatestShowonEarth...Thefirstthingthatstruckme
was,thebatonofanover-eagersecurityguard??Erno,itwas
VERYVERYVERYquietindeed,theshowitselfwasheldinthe
recentlyrefurbishedEarlsCourtII,therewasatleastone
punter,whowasunawareofthe'tradeonly'natureoftheshow,
trying(anddismallyfailing)togetin..

AverylongwalkaroundtheEarlsCourtsite,gotmetoEarls
CourtII,and,fromthere,theonlywaywas........

Throughthedoorsactually,thesecondthingthatstruckmewas
theacresoffloorspace,nochancetopracticemydirtiesthand-
to-handcombattacticsontheshell-suitedmasses,whatanice
change...However,thosesamemissingcrowdsarethelifeandsoul
ofagoodshow,aretheynot?Sothiswasaverysubdued
gathering..

Thefirst'game'wastovisitasmanyofthenon-softwaretrade
Çandretailstands,withthereallyattractivePRgirlsonthem,
andarrangefortheirrepstovisitthepersonwhosenameIhad
taken(WhoisaComputerstoremanager-HiNathan..Onlyjoking..)
totryandsellthingsthattheyhadalreadygot,anddidnotwant
anymoreof...

Thesecondsourceofamusementwastoplay'Spotthestandswhich
werebuiltfortheconsumershow,beforetheypulledtheplugon
it..'Theclearwinnerhere,beingVirgin/Mastertronic(Or
Sega/Virgin/Mastertronic??)whohadaveryniceexpensivestand,
withJIMMYWHITE'S3-DSNOOKER,andROLLINGRONNY,tonamebuttwo
games,also,ROOM13,asortofSecretService'Cover-Up'
simulator..





Oceancamesecond,withwhatlookedlikeasemi-completedstand,
withtheusualsortofthing,ImminentlicencesincludeTERMINATOR
II,THESIMPSONS-BARTvsTHESPACEMUTANTS,HUDSONHAWK,
ROBOCOPIII,SMASHT.V.(aWilliamscoin-op,notafilm)anda
hostofothers,includingBATMANonabudgetrelease...Icaughta
glimpseofOceansupremoGarryBracey,leavingwithsuitcasesin
hand,andthoughtthatSOMEONEhadtherightideaaboutthis
show..

IcalledinattheATARIstand(Naturally)andthiswasquite
small,andtotallyconcernedwiththecoming(Xmas)seasons
marketingforvariousSTpacks,andalsotheLYNX,Itookthetime
offtochattooneoftheveryattractivePRgirls(Howdotheydo
it??)aboutvariousthings,includingMAGGIE,whichsheseemed
pleasedtohearabout...Theykepttheirlipssealedaboutthe
variousnewmachines,butitseemsthattherearesomenew
launches,probablyforSeptembernextyear,inthepipeline,for
somethingbywayofanewenhancedST/E..

ÇIalsovisitedthearch-rival's(Commodore)stand,theywere
pushingthisyears'product'aswell,butwhilstthere,Ispotted
CDTVinoperationwiththelatestdemos,includingthenew
PSYGNOSISCD-ROMgame,Itoldyouaboutinanearlierissue,this
movesandlooksverygood,everythingbeing100%digitised,it
remainstobeseenwhattheplayabilityislikethough....

Alsorunning,wereGremlin'sforthcomingLOTUSTURBOESPRITII,
whichlookedverypromising,andvariousMICROPROSEgames,
includingtheSTversionofMICROPROSEGOLF,andasolid-3-D
FORMULAONEGRANDPRIXgame,(Withareallynaffvideobysomeone
doing"MurrayWalker"impressions)Also,theP.C.previewof
GUNSHIP2000,andseveral,curlingattheedgesinadangerous
fashion,sandwichesandnibbles..

TherebuiltActivisionhadalargestand,withseveralmachines
runningHUNTER,andF14,DomarkhadMIG29SUPERFULCRUM,
PITFIGHTER,WORLDCUPRUGBY,andRACEDRIVING...

Therewereseveralnon-STpointsofinterest,includingWING
COMMANDERII,(Fast,colourful,andreallyblockycloseup..)and
aSegaMegadriveversionofTurrican(Unplayable,withtheawful
joypadsuppliedwiththatmachine...)Butalotofpeople,
includingUSGold,Psgnosis,Mirrorsoft,ElectronicArts,and
Coredesignstayedaway,thesewereshowingatthenearby
GloucesterHotel,andhadboycottedtheoriginalconsumershow-
to-be,onthegroundsofexcessivecost...Thegenerally
expressedviewseemstobethattheconsumershowfailedbecause
ofthemasspull-outsbyseveralbignames,andthatthe
organiserswerechargingtoomuch..

Itwouldseemthatthereistobenoreplacementshowfor
September,indeed,thereistheludicrouspositionoftherebeing
TWOtradeshowsfornextyear....



ÇSHOPPERSHOW,anyone?????

Certainly,itseemssomethingwentverybadlywrong,intheperiod
immediatelybeforetheshow,youmayrememberthattheCESshow
hasonlybeeninitspresentformatfortwoorsoyears,afterit
wasrescuedfromcollapsebyEMAP,whenexhibitorsthreatenedto
pulloutforverysimilarreasonsthattime(GreedyOrganisers
justouttolinetheirpocketsattheexpenseofeveryone..Etc)

Itisalsostrangethatsomepartsoftheindustryconsidera
Septemberconsumershowan'Anacronism'(Belongingtothepast)
whilstothersstatethattheindustryisnot'Mature'enoughfor
thissortofshow....(Duuuurrrrrrrrwhatsgoingonguys???)

Also,byvirtueofitbeingatradeshow(Over18's)noneofthe
usualpeoplewhomakethesethingsreallyworthwhile,werethere,
soitwasaveryquiet,bland,subdued,andcolourlessexperience.
Itmayaswellhavenottakenplace(Indeedsomepeoplethinkit
didn't..)

Willthereeverbeanythinglikethisagain??Whocares???

ChrisH.22/9/91..

YoumaybeinterestedtohearofsomeofthestrangeliteratureI
pickedup,thisincludesthingslikeFuturePublishing'spromotion
packs(Forpotentialadvertisers)forbothSTFormatandNew
ComputerExpress..ThecopyfortheNCEpackgoessomething
like..."IFYOUWERESELLINGCHOCOLATE,WOULDN'TYOUWANTTOGET
TOTHECHOCOHOLICS!!"("Chocoholics"beingthesortofavid,
interestedreader/userwhobuys'Express..)

Yes,quite.......

AndIthink,thatismostdefinitelyit....